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COLLEGE PARK, Md. – After struggling to find firm footing to start its game at No. 1 Maryland, Penn came back to make it a game in an eventual 15-10 loss to the nation’s top team.

The Terps bounced out to a 4-0 lead before the game was seven minutes old, and used a 5-0 run in the second third of the opening half to build a 10-2 lead. From that point on, though, the Quakers outscored the Terrapins, 8-5, and showed they are ready to compete with the nation’s top clubs.

The Terps won the first four draws of the game, and scored on each possession, keeping the run of play in Penn’s defensive half of the field for the first 6:41. Lucy Ferguson came up with a stop on Maryland’s sixth shot, giving Penn a chance to run its first offensive look of the game. Williamson had the first chance, a saved opportunity, but after the Quakers forced a turnover, she was good on her second chance to score Penn’s first goal of the game at the 9:22 mark.

After Williamson scored again with 15:13 to play in the first half, the Terps went on their big 5-0 run. The streak was ended by a Shannon Mangini goal with 2:47 to play in the opening period. That goal was the first of four in a row for the Quakers, bringing Penn back within four at 10-6 with 26:49 to play in the game. Two of those goals came 31 seconds apart – Tomchik scoring with 32 seconds left in the first half and Poplawski beating the buzzer with a goal at the 29:59 mark to close the half.

The second half was back and forth, neither team scoring more than two consecutive goals. Williamson hit twine first 3:11 into the second period to bring Penn within four. Eight minutes later, Tomchik scored her second of the game to again close the Red and Blue within four. That was as close as Penn would get, however, the Terrapins scoring twice to take a five-goal lead they would never relinquish.

After being controlled on the draws by the Terps, 12-3, in the first half, Penn rallied for a 7-4 lead on the circle in the second half to finish down just 16-10 on draw controls in the game. Poplawski led all Penn players with four.

Alex Aust led Maryland with six goals in the game, while Schwarzmann had three. Taylor Cummings was the leader on the draw for the Terps with a game-high six.

The Quakers return to the field at Lehigh on April 3 at 7 p.m. followed by a return to Ivy play April 6 at Columbia.